


this love

by thefullergirl



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Established Relationship, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Morning Kisses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:41:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27615704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefullergirl/pseuds/thefullergirl
Summary: Jaemin is stronger, Jeno will always believe.
Relationships: Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Comments: 16
Kudos: 86





	this love

**Author's Note:**

> This love left a permanent mark  
> This love is glowing in the dark, oh  
> These hands had to let it go free  
> And this love came back to me, oh
> 
> this love - taylor swift

Jeno’s run out of coffee.

Now, that normally wouldn’t be an issue, because he has tea in his cupboard anyways. It just so happened that today, he has someone who very much appreciates coffee in the morning. 

He debates going out to the store just across the street to get some, even if it’s just a handful of packets of the instant stuff, but it’s still raining. Has been since last night, without any sign of letting up. Truthfully, Jeno can’t even see past the sheets of rain just outside his window.

He’s already thinking about which jackets he has that will hold up against  _ that _ when he hears footsteps pad across his floor, making their way to him.

“Is it morning?” Jaemin asks groggily, hoisting himself up on one of the bar stools. 

Jeno turns to face him fully, nodding. “Yeah, it is. Good morning, Jaemin.”

Jaemin scowls at the window. “It doesn’t feel like it is.”

Chuckling, Jeno makes his way around the counter. Jaemin follows him with his gaze, blinking at him blearily.

“Did the rain wake you?” Jeno asks, prodding at the teddy bears on Jaemin’s scrubs-turned-pajama-bottoms. 

He shakes his head. “My body clock’s messed up. I wake up at this hour even on my off days.”

It’s one of those off days now, and he’d just come back from a grueling shift. Jaemin had pretty much crashed into bed the minute he got home, and Jeno did his best to maneuver him out of his work clothes. It had gotten easier over time, and thankfully Jaemin wasn’t clingy until Jeno settled in beside him.

And because Jeno doesn’t have coffee today, he says, “Hey. We could afford to sleep today.”

They could. Jeno didn’t have a site to do an ocular for, Jaemin had the next 2 days off, and neither of them remember the last time they did this. They really could afford this, just for today.

Slowly, Jaemin’s expression softens. He hops off the bar stool, following Jeno to the bedroom. His steps aren’t light, but Jeno doesn’t expect them to be.

He gets into bed first, laying down and settling into the pillows. Jeno opens his arms for him, and Jaemin readily settles into his embrace. Jaemin’s fingertips are cold as they idly dance on Jeno’s collarbones, but the rest of him is warm against Jeno’s side.

“Hello,” Jeno murmurs, pushing hair off of Jaemin’s forehead.

“Hi Jen.” Jaemin offers a little smile, his gaze clear now. “How are you?”

It was like this now, sleepy small talk whenever they could manage, wordlessly hoping that the conversation lasts more than a few minutes. Jeno does his best to make sure it does, and he knows Jaemin does too.

“A lot of meetings, a lot of clients.” He plays with the hair at Jaemin’s nape. “Fallen asleep on the drafting table one too many times, which I know you’ll scold me for.”

Jaemin’s smile widens. “I would. You shouldn’t fall asleep on your drafting table, Jen.”

“I know.”

Jeno bites the inside of his cheek. He thinks about how Jaemin has to worry about a lot of people already, and he really shouldn’t add to that. 

“I’m eating well though, I promise! And cutting back on the energy drinks, I swear.”

Fingers tapping on his chest, Jaemin nods. “Good, good. Proud of you.”

A part of him wants to pull the blankets over the both of them and attempt to lull Jaemin back to sleep, but he knows that this time is important. They don’t even have to fill it with actual conversation, they could just stay awake together for as long as they can.

As he racks his brain for something to say, something that will keep this moment running for longer, Jaemin curls up closer to him. He’s a little broader, a little taller, with limbs that feel longer, but he’s small like this, wanting to be as close to Jeno as he can manage.

“Jen?”

“Mmm?”

He looks up at Jeno, eyebrows starting to knit together. “Is it… is it normal to feel alone when all day, I’m surrounded by people?”

Jeno traces the shell of an ear with his thumb. “Yes.”

“Really?” Jaemin looks like he’s not sure if he should believe it. “Even if I know I have friends there and I have friends, period, and I’m not even actually alone in anything?”

Jeno looks at him for a long moment, and repeats his answer. Jaemin looks away, snuggling up against Jeno’s chest.

Jaemin works at one of a few handful of the public hospitals in the area. He deals with dozens of patients every hour, every day, 5 (or often, 7) days a week. Sometimes, he even tends to those that aren’t even in his specialization because of the lack of staffing. Jeno wonders if there’s a part of the hospital that Jaemin hasn’t worked at.

It ran him ragged, Jeno knew. Not just the work, but all the people. All the instructions and the wailing and the complaints and the small talk during break time and all the contact between. Overwhelming, at the very least.

He gently traces circles into Jaemin’s scalp.

“Doyoung-hyung asked if we wanted to have dinner with him and his husband,” Jaemin says, and it sounds more like an admission. “I said I’m not sure yet.”

“We don’t have to go.” 

There’s the beginning of a pout on Jaemin’s lips when he looks up again. “I promised myself that I should be more sociable this year.”

Carefully, Jeno runs his fingertip across the line of Jaemin’s jaw. “That doesn’t mean you should accept every invitation ever. It’s okay to say no if you don’t feel like it.”

“I…” He hesitates, biting down on his lip. Something flickers across his features. “I don’t want us to be lonely, Jen.”

Corner of his mouth quirking up, Jeno leans in and presses a kiss to Jaemin’s forehead. “We’re not lonely, never were, never will be. Even if we don’t say yes to dinner with Dr. Kim.”

He feels Jaemin take in a deep breath. Jeno pulls him even closer, tangling their legs together. For a while, they didn’t fit perfectly together, not in the way that he thought they would. But over time, they’ve learned how to do this. Them, huddled in a ball of limbs and warm snuggles, together in ways they can’t quite quantify.

Sometimes, Jeno reads those interviews of couples in the magazines at the lobby of his office. They talk about how marriage is never easy but it’s worth it, how they find all sorts of ways to make it work. They say that it’s about how, at the end of the day, it’s about coming home to the one that makes you laugh, no matter how shitty your day was. 

In those articles, they sometimes ask who’s the stronger of them. There would often be an enclosed side note that the couple laughs, staring fondly into each other’s eyes. A common answer would be that they’re both strong in their own ways. If not, they’d say each other, and then a whole list of reasons will come tumbling out.

Jeno squeezes Jaemin’s shoulder. If they were asked that, Jaemin would say him without hesitation. He’d say that Jeno has always been the one that’s tried harder, the one that worked more for them to have what they now have. Jaemin would tell the interviewer that Jeno’s steadier, someone that doesn’t crumble easily. Someone who can face the world with a smile on his face.

But Jeno thinks of Jaemin. Jaemin, with a heart bigger than himself that he has to keep giving pieces of it to people. Jaemin, with the way he silently does what he can, be it cooking a meal after a particularly long day or volunteering himself at any given chance or even just being there, ready to listen, even when he doesn’t have to. Jaemin, who knows exactly how and when to cheer Jeno up without Jeno asking.

“Let’s come to the dinner. I want to,” Jaemin says. His voice sounds bright, as quiet as it is. “They’re really nice, and I think you’d love them.”

Jaemin is stronger, Jeno will always believe.

“Okay.” He brings Jaemin’s hand up to his mouth, kissing across his knuckles. “Should we bring anything?”

“Hmmm. They said they’d take care of everything, but it wouldn’t hurt to bring them a cake, right?”

It brings a smile to Jeno’s face. “What cake are we making?”

“Oh!” Jaemin straightens, propping himself up. “There was this recipe I bookmarked somewhere. It was this coconut cake, and it looked super pretty, and I don’t think we’ve done anything like that yet? But we’re gonna have to look for somewhere to buy coconut at this time…”

Laughing, Jeno leans up to kiss the tip of Jaemin’s nose. “Yeah, let’s try that.”

Jaemin swats at him. “You’re so clingy today.”

“It’s raining, we need the warmth.” He shrugs.

“Mmhmm.” Jaemin smooches the corners of Jeno’s smile. “Excuses.”

“I’ll make all of them if it means we don’t leave this bed today.”

That makes Jaemin snort, pinching at Jeno’s arm. In the next moment, his expression softens.

“Thank you,” he murmurs. Drawing in a breath, Jaemin shakes his head. “Thank you, Jen.”

He reaches up, cups Jaemin’s face with a hand. It’s so easy for Jaemin to lean into the touch, closing his eyes. 

It’s in that ‘thank you’ that Jeno hears Jaemin’s ‘I love you’, whispered and solemn against the rain still beating against their windows. Jeno presses his lips to his, feeling every bit of warmth wrap over him at that. He loves him too.

They settle back in, keeping true to their plans. Life was never this quiet, not for them, but this moment is for them and them only. 

Jeno thinks they’re not gonna need the coffee today.

**Author's Note:**

> i miss them, is all.
> 
> [twt](https://twitter.com/bundoie) | [cc](https://curiouscat.qa/bundoie)


End file.
